


Devil's Labyrinth

by DreamBeneathTheFlowers



Series: Prompts [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death, One-Shot, Stand Alone, prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 09:44:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4620669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamBeneathTheFlowers/pseuds/DreamBeneathTheFlowers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vriska makes some new friends.  One shot/stand alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Devil's Labyrinth

The first thing Vriska became aware of was the fact that she was surrounded in something dark and solid; not the cool, gooey sopor of her repuracoon. The second was that prongs were tightly clasped around her arms, tugging her skywards. The shock of it faded as she remembered her training. She steeled herself, swallowing back her fear. 

“Almost there!” Someone huffed.

The darkness disappeared, and Vriska saw the three young faces staring at her. They were all fresh from their trials, by the look of their chubby little bodies. Then again, so was she. Her legs and fingers were as new to her as theirs was to them, but at least her lusus taught her how to use hers. She wondered if any of theirs ever considered the fact that untrained children were often eaten. They probably didn’t. These were the descendants of blue bloods -- they weren’t expecting to be anyone’s dinner anytime soon.

With one last heave, Vriska was pulled free from the dirt and dropped unceremoniously to the ground. She scrambled to her feet, drawing her 8ball from her pocket. The tunnel they were in was tall enough for her Imperious Condescension herself, hair and all. It was carved into the dirt, and had no light source aside from some glowing lanterns stuck to the roof with what appeared to be spider webs. There was no way to tell which direction they needed to go. No way visible to the untrained eye, anyway. 

The ground was riddled with holes. Standing above the one Vriska had just been rescued from were two slightly older trolls. They were both a little bit taller and broader than the others. She narrowed her eyes, instantly recognizing the one in gloves. 

“Holy shit,” Ammitt said, breathing hard. Her dark hair was pulled back, but anyone would recognize the girl. Everything from the scars on her face to the crack down her left horn screamed that she was a fighter. And if Vriska’s memory served right, a rather good one at that. Breathing hard, she curled an arm under her stomach, then laughed. “You were caught too, huh?”

“That’s right!” Vriska retorted, not seeing the joke. She glanced at all of them, searching their faces for familiarity, or suspicion. All she saw was terror and confusion. 

A teal blood came from the shadows, dirt sticking to their face. That made… six. That didn’t seem right. There were the three little ones -- Chubby Face, Big Ears, and the one that looked like a Nut Creature -- the Tall One, Ammitt, and the Teal blood. With Vriska, that made... seven. There were seven of them. But Vriska had been so certain there were eight children when she had walked to the park. 

“Where’s…” Vriska racked her brain, but couldn’t pull a name. Ammitt and the teal blood exchanged a look.

“Hasmat didn’t make it,” the teal blood said, cryptically. The teal blood clicked her teeth, then pointed up. Vriska followed, but couldn’t see anything except for dirt. “These webs are the only reason we’re alive right now.”

“Webs? As in, spider webs?”

The teal blood nodded. “Big spider webs, too. Most likely a lusus. It seems like they were placed after we fell, catching the landslide before it could bury us.” With a wry smile, the teal blood continued: “I’d like to thank the creature, but I have a feeling it saved us for… other… purposes.”

Ammitt stood up straight. She popped her back, then stretched her arms over her head. She walked past them, looking one direction, and then back down the other. The teal blood and three little ones watched for a minute. “We need to go. That thing’ll be here any moment to come get the rest of us.”

Obviously, Vriska was not in charge of this expedition. Even the tall one was being abnormally quiet -- submissive to Ammit and the teal blood. Sighing, Vriska knew she was going to have to gain leadership through nonviolent means.

“Yeah, okay, buuuuuuuut… Which way?” Vriska asked, looking from one dark end of the tunnel to the other. 

The teal blood pointed behind Vriska. “The ground collapsed at an angle suggesting the spider dug from that direction. That’s also where the largest gathering of webs are.”

“So, we’re going this way?” Ammitt asked, confident despite her confusion.

The teal blood grinned. “Unless it’s smart enough that it knew we would figure that out. But, I walked a ways down the tunnel, and it gets lighter if we go that way.” 

She pointed in the right direction. 

“Then we’re going this way!” Ammitt didn’t need any more information. Picking up Big Ears and Chubby Face under her arms, she started marching to the teal blood’s instructions, away from the webs, towards the light. The other tall one grabbed Nut Creature and Vriska in the same manner. 

Vriska could see the teal blood second-guessing herself. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, as if it held the answers, then slowly walked behind them. Vriska almost felt sorry for her. She was clearly smart -- her future could’ve been as a legislacerator, easily. But just like all the others, she made the fatal mistake of not realizing that it didn’t matter which end of the tunnel they went down, they would both start sloping, spiraling, until they opened into a cavern. 

The spider was waiting below, and they were walking right to her.


End file.
